St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-20

&c q rs "a leper. Once in a great
81 while a fleeting paragraph
,liLAASl appears in the newspapers
tGSTiIHN' in reference to the hapleSS
HUf1lHif1 man, but it is soon forgot
ten by the public, and. at
best, is only read out of curiosity by the
people. who would hastily draw their
Skirts and go on the other side should
this sOrely afflicted mortal pass their
way. In all the range Of diseases that
have afflicted humanity, there is none
that inspires more horror, creates more
dismay. or leaves, even after the men-
ton of its name, a more Sickening
dread than this aWfully lOathSOme af-
Fiction of leprOSy. 1t was, therefore,
with considerable interest that this very
alluring. although repulSive, subject
was carefully looked into, even to the
extent of spending a couple of hours
with the unfortunate victim of the pest.
The widely spread belief that leprOsy is
confined to the warm climate of ASiatic
countries. is a mistake. The disease
without any doubt originated among
people of a Semi-trOpical climate. The
ancients positively believed that it first
began in Egypt, and was carried by the
Jews, when delivered out of bondage,
into Palestine. The first knowledge
Europe had of it, was when it ravaged
almost the entire continent in the first
century before Christ, and became fix
ity among the people of the West and
Northwest. bringing horror and
CAUSING DESoLATION
wherever it appeared. In the middle ages
it began to grow less and less
in Europe, finally being restricted to
few districts scattered at great dis
tances, one from the other. An artistic
treasure in connection with this subject
is the grand picture of HOlbein, hung in
the Munich gallery. 1t represents st.
Elizabeth giving bread and wine to the
lepers of the middle ages; the group are
represented PROSTATE at her feet, and
the blOtcheS and sores, on
their bodies are SO scien-
titically correct, that Virchon,
the great German SaYant, cOnjectureS
the painter must have made studies at
the leper house that existed in his day
at Augsburg. To the question is there
any hope for a person thus afflicted?
science so far has sadly had to reply no.
AS far as worldly knowledge goes, this
is an incurable constitutional aiIment,
and is marked externally by discolored
patches and nOdnleS on the skin, laSsi-
tude, mental depression, pains in the
limbs and a weak hOarSeneSS in speak
ing. There are two varieties, the spot
ted and the nodular. 1t is now endemic,
chiefly. but not exclusively among peO-
ple who inhabit the sea coast or the
eStuarieS of rivers, who live much on
fish (Often putrid), and who intermarry
closely. This and a good deal more
have the books got TO say in reference
to leprOSy, but the full effect of its hOr-
ror, the IoathSOmeneSS of its appear
ance, the loneliness,
THE SUBLIME DEPTH OF MISERY
in which its victim is engulfed-as if
sinking into a ''cloaca" of filth and
slime with none to help or reaSsure,
cannot really be fully appreciated until
the man with white fair skin, and con-
stitutiOn sound and healthy, meets
leper face to face, and has the disease
disclosed to him, in all its naked ugli-
ness and especially when coming direct
from the busy martS of men, dropping
for the nOnce, the joys and ambitions,
that give life ZeSt. and work its crown
ing glory, leaving for awhile the friend
ship, and cOmpaniOnship of beautiful
fair women, and then suddenly to be
transported into the presence of this
living example. of the possibilities of
misery humanity may be stepped in.
and vet live and have an abiding faith
in better and happier time in some
future day. Such are some of the ret1ec-
lions that sprung lnvoluntarily to the
mind of a GLOBE reporter, as he walked
over a few days ago to see the leper and
converse with him. Passing over the
Tenth avenue bridge and turning to the
right on the East Side, there is a flight
Of rickety wooden steps going down the
bluff: these lead to that ram Shackle
portion of the town known as the
fats. The residences of that delectable
neighbOrhOOd were certainly built for
utility more than ornament, and the
only approach to a street was a narrow,
rough, uneven pathway, along which
the frame cottages were Hanged in a
most reckless manner. so far as
straight line is concerned.
THE RIVER SANG ITS SONG
as it murmured along in the shallow
way, now running swiftly ahead and
then caresSing big boulder and gaily
swiShing this way and that. In fact,
despite the poverty OF the surroundings
the whole air of the place had a TO
mantle look and seemed the fit abode of
one isolated from his fellow beings. At
the end of the roadway already de-
Scribed stood a tWO-StOry, weather.
beaten Shanty, surrounded by very
big ward. incIOSed in a wooden paling.
This was the leper'S home. On knock
ing at the door fairly gOod-lOOking
girl admitted the writer into little sit
ting room and retired. as she
remarked to the reporters intense
amazement. ITO fetch her papa"
The room in which the writer sat was
simply but neatly furnished. The make
believe of a carpet was on the floor; the
cooking stove was polished to such
condition one could part his hair in it as
I'm a looking glass; a bed stood in one
corner a bureau in another, and the
chairs were comfortable articles to sit
on. Three pictures hung upon the wall;
two were little landscapes, and the third
over the bed represented an athletic,
handsome looking young man with a
kind. good honest face. In few min
utes steps were heard approaching. The
latch on the back door was thrown up,
the door flew back, and there the leper
stood revealed in all his nastineSs of APP
pearance and forlOrnnesS of demeanor.
Do you ask, Is it exaggerated about
them?
Motifs not, by any means.
HE IS MOST REPULSIVE
and sickening to look at, and is leper
with the strongest and gravest symp-
toms present in his case. In appear
ance. and let it be understood this is
not said to make any ridicule of the
man whatsoever, but he really bears
strong resemblance to that freak of the
dime museums. Jo-JO, the dog faced
boy. Add to the LONELINESS of this
picture, face that is one great mass of
sores-teeming with sores-running